In the hi-tech world, each person has a digital camera. It has become a tradition of taking a digital camera to make photographs of something new. How pleasant to show these pictures to our friends! In the world of the Internet and social networking picture, by its own, can no longer impress the demanding user. Many people understand this and try to improve their pictures by to editing with a special image effects.

What are the best methods to improve the picture?

Black and White photo effect

This effect converts any color photo to black and white. This effect can trigger memories from the past, thus adding an image a sense of nostalgia. Want to make your photo more deep? Use black and white image effect!

Sepia picture effect

This is one of those effects that come to us from the past when some artists have painted in this style. In most cases, Sepia is used to “olden” a photo. Sepia makes your photo more dull, giving it a light brownish tint. After corresponding photo editing, picture looks faded and tarnished for many years. If you apply this effect to photos that show the recent events – than the result will quite funny!

The effect of oil paintings

In the old days, when there were no photo cameras – people depicted surrounding world on canvas and paper. Paintings popular to this day. The process of creating paintings of ordinary photography is quite complex. If you’re not an artist, you will have to find one, but it is not cheap. Fastest way to turn photos into the picture is using computer algorithms. Modern photo editor can apply such effect in a seconds.

Pencil Sketch photo effect

Would you like to have your picture look like a sketch, drawn with a pencil?. Maybe, you seen on the streets an artist who wanted to paint you on paper. Pencil sketch – is another kind of photo effect, which makes your photo more interesting. Edit pictures and bring a little bit art in your photos!

“Cartoonizer”

Another great photo effect – an animated film filter. Apply this photo effect for your photo and get a unique as a result! The resulting picture is very similar to the cartoon image of Walt Disney. The result of applying effect will delight adults and children! You must try the effect of an animated film to please your friends and family!

Vintage Photo

Retro photo effect can turn your modern photos into very old one. Beautiful results of this effect is achieved with the imposition of all sorts of artifacts and dirt. Effect of the old retro photos – is good choice to laugh and for more serious applications. Above we have described the most popular photo effects. Apply these effects each time to please the family or make fun of your friends

How to apply these effects to your photo?

Among the serious graphic packages can be distinguished Gimp. Unfortunately, to create the effect in this package – you need a solid knowledge in this program. Many of the effects may be required for hours to create the desired result. Fortunately, you can do it all with one click!. At the moment, there are several photo editing sites that apply photo effects for you. Just upload any photo and get a wonderful and unexpected results!.

When it comes to photography, there are plenty of types of programs that can be used in order to remove the errors or in order to improve the photo shot. Professional photographers are well aware of this, while the amateur photographers use the photo effects in order to experiment and in order to understand how they actually work.

There are so many types of cool photo effects that stand at the disposal of amateur and professional photographers that it takes time to learn them all and to also be able to wisely use them. Unfortunately, the photography effects have a disadvantage: when you don’t know much about them and you are not able to combine them in a wise manner, they can ruin the photo. It would be a pity to ruin a good photo shot just because the photo effects used were not inspired.

This is the reason why those who feel that they don’t know enough about photography effects should join specialized courses and workshops. By doing this, they get the chance to understand how the fun photo effects can be combined and how the cool ones can make the difference between a good photo shot and a perfect one. Of course, the imagination and the talent have a strong word to say, but it also is about work and training, as well as about trying combinations over and over again.

The role of photo effects is either to improve a photo shot or to transform it into a work of art. How is it possible for some photo effects to have the power to create a work of art? Well, it all stands in the personal touch of the photographer. If the photographer has a nice idea and puts it into practice with the help of photo effects, the adding or the removing certain elements will easily transform into a process that creates the work of art. The cool photography effects are there for a reason, but when you don’t know how to use them in order to help you transmit a message and in order to help you put that personal, unique and original touch on the photo shot, then you don’t have too many chances of success.

This is what specialists are for. Their work is to show you what the photography effects can do. If you manage to understand their message and if you have the talent and the creativity necessary for unique combinations of photo effects, then you will surely transform into a photographic artists. Those who have photo exhibits at important photographic galas can call themselves artists. Their work is interesting enough and big enough to form collections that need to be shared with people who work in other fields but who feel attracted by the photographic art. This is what being a photographic artist means and what the role of the photo effects is: to improve a photo shot to such levels that it can be transformed into a work of art.

The photo effects are quite popular both among amateur photographers and professional photographers. The photo effects are available on the market for years and years, so finding specialized software is not going to be difficult. There even are free photo effects available online, so those who don’t have the money for investing in specialized software can use the free tutorials instead. Of course, when you are not an amateur anymore, but a professional, you should direct your attention towards high quality programs that allow you to avoid ruining the photo shots just because you are deciding to use some effects.

When it comes to the use of photography effects, critics think that there are advantages involved, as well as disadvantages. The disadvantages are nothing else but the result of an overuse of photography effects. When you don’t know when to impose a limit and when you have no idea about what you can do with certain photo effects, there are high chances of completely ruining the photo. Numerous amateur photographers realize that the natural colors are gone and that the photo looks worse than it did at the beginning. They also realize that adding too many elements destroyed the photo shot’s message, which plays a very important role for the photographer. These are common mistakes that numerous amateur photographers commit, especially when they don’t know much about the use of photo effects.

The professional photographers know how to add effects to photos in order to improve them. It is true that there are cases in which they will ruin a photo, but these are rare exceptions. If you are a professional photographer, you already have specialized courses in your background and you already participated in numerous workshops, so saw what specialists can do with photo effects in order to improve a photo shot. You are probably using the information you gathered in these courses and workshops and you know exactly how to add effects to photos with a limit.

There is nothing wrong about adding some cool photography effects as long as this is done with a limit. The photo can be enhanced, improved, the errors can be removed with the help of photo effects and the photo shot can become more beautiful than it was at the beginning. In addition to this, some wisely used photo effects can emphasis the subject. When the subject is emphasized, the message of the photo becomes much clearer and it is easier for those who see the photo to understand what it was trying to transmit.

As you can see, photo effects have their advantages, as well as their disadvantages. It depends on each photographer whether the effects will turn into an advantage or into a disadvantage. Both amateur and professional photographers use effects on a regular basis, but the difference between them is very clear: amateur photographers don’t know yet what the limit is, while professional photographers have a very clear picture regarding the limits that should be imposed. This is what makes the difference between amateurs and professionals.

The first step to choosing photo-editing software is determining how you want to manipulate photographs. In part, this will depend on your level of skill. If you are an amateur and just want to “mess around,” you would just want the most basic photo-editing software. If you are an experienced user, you may want more features like creative effects. Next, you will need to decide on a budget. Photo-editing software can be quite expensive. If the software is for a student, find the academic versions. These versions will provide everything a student would need and they offer a very large discount.

Once you know what you need and the amount you can afford start comparing programs. Consult the following list to begin your research:

The Top 5 Photo-Editing Software Programs

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 is an easy to use program that offers a wide variety of features for both the beginner and the expert. Some of its more unique features include a beginner’s guided editor and online functions through adobe express.

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

For years, Paint Shop Pro has been and excellent choice for beginners and professionals alike. The easy to use interface makes it perfect for beginners and the reasonable price appeals to professionals. Paint Shop Pro X2 is almost as powerful as Photoshop Elements 7. However, it does not offer some of the less popular features.

Serif Photo Plus X2

This is the perfect program for someone just starting out editing photos. It is easy to use and offers sound assistance. The program contains all the necessary features for beginners but offers some of the more advanced features also. The beginner will not easily grow out of this program.

Ulead Photo Impact X3

This program is a little more difficult to use as Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. However, once the basics have been mastered the program becomes much easier to use. The program can be used in two modes – expressfix and full edit. Ulead Photo Impact X3 also has the ability to make web pages.

ACDSee Photo Editor 2008

This program combines photo editing, graphic design and presentation projects. It features How-To projects to help the novice learn some of the more complex features. However, it does not offer much in the way of sharing or organizing.